The picture below captures one of the most confusing aspects of
Meditation methods being promoted in our modern world. While the
aspects of Meditation listed in the picture below are not intended to
be all-inclusive, they are representative of the fact that
Meditation, at least in the ancient most Yoga traditions is very
broad and and very deep. Yoga Meditation is complete unto itself.

However, it has become popular to take one small part of the whole of
Meditation, give it a trademark or brand name, and sell that to an
unsuspecting public as a complete Meditation system. The promoters of
these fragmented systems often ignore, suppress, or condemn the other
practices as being invalid or ineffective methods or parts, further
hiding the original whole of Meditation.

This segregating of the part from the whole gives the impression that
one must choose "this" or "that" so-called "method" of Meditation.
This phenomenon has widely happened not only in "spiritual" contexts,
but also in medical and psychological professional services. I'll
refrain from naming any of the the brand named or trademarked
systems, but you are probably familiar with many of them through the
advertising of programs, seminars, and materials such as books.

If one is seeking only a tiny portion of Meditation for purposes such
as the "management" of stress, then practicing only a tiny portion of
the whole of the process might be sufficient. However, for those
seeking the height or depth of self-awareness, spirituality, or
enlightenment, the finer practices of Yoga work together, like the
fingers of a hand or the various systems within the human body. This
is not a case of pasting together or integrating various parts to
make a composite whole, as Yoga Meditation is already complete; it is
already a whole.

In holding this perspective it is essential to remember that Yoga is
far more than the physical postures, which is one of the ways in
which the part has become separated from the whole in recent years.
The whole of Meditation can be learned and practiced, gradually
leading one to know himself or herself at all levels, up to and
including the eternal center of consciousness, which is one with the
absolute reality, by whatever name you choose to call that.

My wish for the sincere seeker of the highest Truth, Reality or
Divinity--however you name that--is that you find the whole of
Meditation and the preexisting Whole to which it leads.